LLM International Business - Master of Laws

Course Overview

CourseOverview

To understand global interconnectedness of economies, markets and industries within which transnational corporations compete, an individual would require a high degree of knowledge and understanding of the municipal, regional and international customs, practices and laws. Such an individual would also require a certain set of communication skills to draft, present, negotiate, moot and write in a disciplined way.

LLM International Business programme therefore aims to provide such knowledge and understanding as well as the skills to the students through an advanced study and assessment of laws within subject areas and issues that are rooted in the international business and management environment.

The programme is designed to equip students to develop the understanding of concepts and theories, stimulate critical thinking and resolve legal disputes from a multidisciplinary perspective. The programme also offers students the opportunity to reflect on their own knowledge, experience and industry practice, particularly through peer interaction.

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Course Content

The programme comprises a number of compulsory and optional modules, which can be studied either on a one year full time or a two year part time basis. In total, students are required to successfully complete 180 credits to be awarded the degree of LLM International Business.

Compulsory modules (140 credits):

International Business Law (20 credits)

Transnational Commercial Law (20 credits)

Business and Crime (20 credits)

The Role of Business in Society (20 credits)

Legal Research Skills and Reasoning (20 credits)

Dissertation (40 credits)

In addition to the five foundation of knowledge compulsory taught modules above and the dissertation, students will need to undertake two specialist option modules dependent on the chosen pathway, if any.
The programme consists of the following four pathways. Operation of certain pathways* and modules are subject to a minimum class size.

LLM International Business (Finance)*
LLM International Business (Information Technology and Intellectual Property)*
LLM International Business (Entrepreneurship)*
LLM International Business (Employment and Human Resource)*
​Options/ Pathway modules (40 credits):

*The availability of these pathways is subject to a minimum class size. Please see our Terms & Conditions​ for further information.

Learning & Teaching

The programme starts with an intensive week of law induction which will introduce students to the essential elements and principles of the English legal system, rule of law, ethics of learning law and skills needed to undertake legal studies at this advanced level. This induction is an essential component of the programme design due to the fact that most graduates entering the programme will be from a non-law background.

Formal delivery of the curricular material will be through a blend of weekly lectures, tutorials, seminars and workshops. Lectures and interactive seminars will be used to communicate core information setting out the framework in a particular topic, to develop themes and ideas and to encourage students to engage.

Weekly small group workshops known as seminars will require students to engage in intensive programmes of structured reading and research and to present their findings both orally and in writing.

There will be additional ad hoc skills training to enable students to acquire the intellectual skills necessary for postgraduate work including identifying and locating appropriate materials, critical and analytical reading, writing skills and conventions. Specifically, the skills training on concise formal argument based presentation, negotiation and mooting will be conducted.

Legal Research Skills and Reasoning module form the core of the learning and teaching methods above which will not only provide guidance on identifying a suitable research question, carrying out research, writing a literature review and planning and writing their dissertation, it will also enhance general legal research, organisation and presentational skills as well as develop capacity for advanced scholarship and opportunity for independent learning needed throughout the course.

The overall teaching strategy will allow students to devise research and execute sustained pieces of writing and research projects and to execute them under the supervision of a suitably qualified member of staff. Further, students will have gained disciplined approaches to research to enable them to undertake formal oral presentations, oral submissions of case, mooting and debate as well as negotiation which are thoroughly embedded as key application, problem-solving and transferable intellectual skills within the legal discipline.

All modules will be supported by Moodle VLE and students will be provided with a wide range of learning material and study guidance throughout the course of study. In addition, the university library service provides continuous training and support to students accessing legal databases, indexes and journals online. They also assist in obtaining paper-based materials and technical/IT assistance. At any given time, there are approximately 300 undergraduate students undertaking law modules within the School and thus the library staff are experienced in dealing with information skills specific to legal study.

Minimum time commitment for study
Typical full time study will involve the taught modules being delivered across 3 terms starting in September and ending in June of the following year. From June students will undergo dissertation supervision which will then need to be completed before the end of August.

Thus for each taught module in each term the following is an indicator of the time commitment needed.
Each 20 credit taught module requires the students to attend to their studies by participating in group sessions for a minimum of 26 hours. In addition, there will be skills workshops and seminars​ to prepare for and attend. Students will also need to devote 174 hours per module as a minimum to undertake guided and self-initiated private study to achieve module milestones and outcomes as an independent learner especially in undertaking preparation work and completion of assessments.

Support for students and their learning
Whilst the programme director will provide academic support specific to learning, teaching and assessments as a matter of course, Cardiff School of Management operates a Personal Tutors Scheme where students are able to seek direct assistance for academic as well as broader pastoral issues they may face. International Office also provides assistance to international students.

They guide students in such matters as, finance, welfare, career development as well as helping where needed with the planning of effective study patterns, exam preparation and a range of other important issues.

The Personal Tutors work closely with the Programme Director to ensure that the needs of the students are effectively met and that their time at Cardiff Metropolitan is both a pleasant and successful experience.

Assessment

The assessment strategy for the modules and for the programme as a whole complies with the requirements of Cardiff Metropolitan University regulations contained in the Academic Handbook. Within these regulations, specific requirements are set out such as the required threshold for passing and failing modules and assessments, progression and the operation of the examination boards.

Whilst there will be periodic formative assessments to enable students to gain detailed feedback on the tasks set, where possible, summative assessments for the modules will be based on current live issues in the industry with the aims of developing knowledge and understanding in the subject matter as well as reflecting the need for enhanced set of specialist skills to be developed and in particular, oral skills. Thus whilst there are no examinations, students will be required to write extensive legal arguments in the form of legal essays, draft case notes and pleas, and undertake presentation, negotiation and mooting.

All assessments are reviewed within the Law Field Group before approval is sought from the External Examiner. Once approved, the assessments are uploaded into Moodle VLE including specific guidance and instructions. Each module contains multiple assessments with specific deadlines for submission. The university regulations stipulate that for each 20 credit taught module, the assessments should in total be 6,000 words or equivalent. The law dissertation will however be of approximately 12,000 words.

All assessments have detailed grading and marking criteria that reflect the requirements of level 7 study (Master’s level) as well as specific skills set and knowledge and understanding to be developed by the students in the course of the programme.

Feedback and feed-forward
The School has detailed requirements on the timeliness and appropriate level and mode of feedback that the students are entitled to throughout their study. Feedback is therefore provided individually and collectively, not only on summative assessments but also on formative assessments, workshops, progress in modules and preparatory work. Sessions are built into the module timetable to enable collective feedback and feed-forward and students are encouraged to attend them.

Students are particularly encouraged to pay specific attention to face-to-face individual feedback held privately after the first pieces of coursework has been marked and commented upon. This is to enable students to do better in their second pieces of coursework. Feedback is provided within 2 weeks of submission for paper-based assessments. Feedback for oral assessments is provided immediately after the session.

Assessment marking
The module tutor will mark all scripts as the first marker. Samples from each grade band will also be marked by the second independent marker acting in their capacity as the internal verifier as per the School learning and teaching procedures and rules. All failed scripts will be marked by both markers.

Samples are also provided to the external examiner. All marks remain provisional and subject to the final determination of the duly constituted examination board.

Employability & Careers

The programme aims to equip individuals with the fundamentals of international business, through development of legal knowledge and skills, which will enable them to operate efficiently and lawfully as managers, entrepreneurs and specialist practitioners.

It provides disciplined legal context to individual's business knowledge and experience in meeting the demands placed upon them in a highly competitive global commercial environment. The programme therefore opens a broad range of enhanced employment opportunities in business, management and administration across private and public sectors, including NGOs and international organisations.​​ Specifically LLM in
International Business has proven to be a value-added qualification for
business graduates who wishes to enter employment where regulatory compliance
is needed in the areas of HR, marketing, legal, finance related businesses such
as insurers and reinsurers, export/import and other supply chain organisations
involved with international trade.

Previous graduates have entered multinational corporations as managers and administrators and indeed a few that were legally qualified before undertaking this programme have been able to enter into commercial chancery litigation and advisory practice areas.

Entry Requirements & How to Apply

Applicants are required to have at least one of the following:

Obtain a UK Honours Degree (or the equivalent of a UK Honours Degree) in a subject appropriate to the LLM. General or specific Business and Management, HRM, Accounting, Finance and Law related degrees as well as postgraduate qualifications such as MBA are deemed to be appropriate.

Appropriate Professional qualifications or experience. Professional ACCA, Professional CIMA, Legal Practice Course, Bar Professional Training Course and CILEx Graduate Membership or related level of employment experience are deemed to be appropriate.

Applicants will also be required to satisfy English language requirements. Applicants whose Bachelor's degree was not taught and assessed in English should have an English language level equivalent to IELTS 6.5​​.

Selection Procedure:
The broad entry requirements to the programme are set to ensure that the applications from candidates who have well founded and appropriate interest to pursue legal studies at an advanced level but not necessarily be from a legal background or have a law degree can be properly and reasonably considered. The aim is to ensure that someone with a non-law degree or someone who has extensive employment experience in legally related field is treated as equitably as those holding law degrees or were in legal practice.

Therefore, whilst selection for this course is primarily through assessment of candidates’ academic attainments and/or work experience to date, additional information given in the application form and in particular a detailed personal statement and verifiable and evidence based curriculum vitae as well as satisfactory references will carry a great deal of weight. Where possible, personal interviews will also be conducted by the Programme Director.

In all the circumstances, the programme director will be happy to provide further and better particulars on the programme as well as informally advise potential candidates whether a formal application should be submitted.

Key Facts

Place of Study:
Cardiff School of Management
Llandaff Campus

Course Length:
One year full-time or two years part-time.

International Applicants:
Before making an application, international students (those outside of the EU), should contact the International Office at Cardiff Met to discuss the necessary procedures in relation to studying with us. For further information visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/international.

Tuition Fees and Financial Support:
For up to date information on tuition fees and the financial support that may be available. Please refer to www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/fees.

Generally we find most students will complete 60 credits per year for both Undergraduate and Postgraduate study; to obtain a true costing please clarify this by contacting the Programme Director directly.

Postgraduate Scholarships:
The university also offers a postgraduate scholarship scheme to help students whilst at university. To see if you are eligible, visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/scholarships.​